Dear Amy,
I just finished reading your book Yes Please and I’m struggling with that. I wished that your wisdom and stories were endless so that I would never have to stop reading them. I rarely buy books anymore (supporting your idea that robots are going to take over the world and kill us…right?) but when I saw yours on the shelf at Target I had to buy it and own it and keep it forever. I knew it would be a great read but I never knew how much it would impact me.
Ever since I made the decision to start watching Parks and Rec, I’ve loved you. Your character on the show reminds me a lot of myself. I started to watch your skits from SNL online and read about you and other things you’ve done and accomplished. I just plain liked you…especially for a reason you mentioned in the book. “Most Famous and Most Normal.” The award Melissa fake-gave you in Haiti. It’s so true and makes you extremely likable.
As I read your book I also realized I identify a lot with you as a person. I’m a mix between Leslie and Amy, which creepily enough is a mix between two different “yous.” Anyway, beyond finding parts of you in me or parts of me in you (whatever way you want to look at it) I also found a handful – no more like a shit ton to be honest – of amazing quotes. I wrote these quotes in my planner, in the notes app of my phone, saved them as drafts on Twitter, etc etc. You wrote sentences that became more than just sentences to me. When you spoke on your drug use, your time in New York and Chicago when you were younger, your sons, and treating yourself like you’re 90 years old…I found a quote that inspired me and made me think about life in a different way. I couldn’t even pick a favorite because they’re all equally as good in their own way. Your wisdom was just what I needed at this point in my life. Your book was one of the best things I’ve read in awhile. And you mention soo many times about how difficult it was to write the damn thing…but let me just say thank you. Thank you for pushing through and finishing the book, even if you had a little help from some friends, because it was truly an amazing read. It made me laugh and made me cry (more times than I’d like to admit, actually) and I appreciate your insight on certain topics and your humor and your writing style and basically I appreciate you as a person. You’re a celebrity that I’m not ashamed to tell people I look up to. You wrote about the dark times and the good times and the inspiring times and the funny times. All of those times helped me think about the times I’m going through and have gone through. You made me smile and made me shed some tears. Your chapter on your two sons made me realize that I must have kids. The way you wrote so eloquently about them made my heart swell.
I hope that somehow this letter finds you. Whether it does tomorrow by some lucky strike of Internet fame on my behalf, or in twenty years when you’re Google searching yourself for fun. I’m filled with gratitude for your stories and how you shared them with the world, even though it was hard. I thank you for being someone that I can admire. I thank you for creating masterpieces of comedy that make me feel better on my worst days. (Whenever I’m having a particularly shitty day/week I re-watch episodes of Parks and Rec.) You are deserving of many awards. You deserve that pudding.
I hope that someday I can meet you and we can talk about all of the different people living under the same big, beautiful moon.
Sincerely, Alexa
